Following the Winds
by neyma
Summary: Follow young druid Rhynia's path as she embarks on the adventures on Azeroth, slowly gaining experience and acquaintances from both factions. Will be roughly following the game storyline, with a few tweaks of my own.
1. Chapter 1 - The seed

Greetings. This story will be featuring many of me and my friend's World of Warcraft characters, aswell as some created only for the story, and obviously names familiar from Blizzard's lore. I'll be adding character information after the chapters, whenever a new character of mine (or my friend's) makes an appearance.

The first chapter is timed before the Cataclysm, but the time switch will introduce certain spoilers from the book Stormrage, and from the expansion Cataclysm. Consider yourself warned.

Unfortunately I've turned into a lazy writer. I write rarely, so updates will be slow, and sometimes short (especially the first chapter which is more of a prologue than anything).

I'll gladly take feedback from everyone, so feel free to point any mistakes, both in the storytelling as well as in the lore. I want it to be perfecto! Additionally to fanfiction dot net, I can be reached ingame with my battletag: Kazeno#2808

Enjoy!

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Rhynia focused on the seed infront of her. Pushing it into the ground with her thumb she called out for the nature spirits around her to help her.

Nothing happened.

Frustrated, Rhynia puffed her cheeks, took a deep breath to calm down and coaxed the spirits she could feel so clearly around her.

Still nothing.

"Shamans ask for elemental spirits' aid. Druids befriend nature itself." The voice was her shando's, Tarelya Windborn's calm voice telling her why her spell wasn't working as intended.

Rhynia took yet another deep breath and focused on the spirits around her, closing her eyes. Sensing the spirits around her, she reached her hand in the air to be met with a gentle wind. "I can feel them so clearly that I can almost see them, but they won't respond to my call,

shando!" She complained a little upset.

Tarelya smiled at her pupil, shaking her head. Laughing she said: "You're trying to use the life energy of the spirits to grow the seed. You're not yet at the level of manipulating it. What you can do is ask the ones strong enough to do your bidding. You can ask trees to move their roots for you, or have the wind blow for you. The seed however, requires restoration arts you've yet to learn."

Rhynia sighed, giving up on the seed and covering it with mold, gently patting the pile. "I'm sorry shando. I... I fell for the provoking of the older druids, the ones supporting arch druid Staghelm." She looked up to her teacher, slightly embarrassed.

Tarelya's smile dropped at the mention of the arch druid. The man she used to have known before the War of the Shifting Sands had completely disappeared, instead leaving behind a twisted, grieving man. He had always had a superior air about him, but it had increased tenfold after the death of his son. She also knew of her friend, Quintis Jonespyre's suspicions about the druid's use for marrowgrain, an ingredient for old, primitive curses.

Rhynia noticed the troubled look on the face of her shando and her ears twitched. It was a known fact that Fandral Staghelm, the druid succeeding Malfurion Stormrage, was in a constant power struggle with the true night elven leader, Tyrande Whisperwind. Although a druid herself, Rhynia couldn't support all of Staghelm's visions and vehemently wished for Tyrande's win in the constant political struggle.

Giving one last glance at the mound on the ground she shifted and rose, stretching her limbs and turning to her shando. She had a lot to learn, and as they would soon find out, not enough time.

* * *

Bit of a teaser? It's unbelieably short, and drabbles a lot. However, I really enjoyed writing this piece as I hadn't been writing for AGES before this.

**Rhynia** is one of my most recent characters. If I remember right, her surname was Mistleaf - I'll have to check on her guild note. At the moment she's on Mazrigos realm, locked at lvl 80 to get me my Herald of the Titan achievement. I'm slow with the gear though, and haven't paid her a lot of attention. As a character, Rhynia doesn't have a lot of depth yet. I'm still forming her personality, but most likely she's going to be the studious type. The story will be following her adventures, slowly picking up acquaintances on the way. As more characters enter the stage, I might even try mimicking Song of Ice and Fire with the way the story is being told. Time will tell.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Cataclysm

And here starts the actual story! Again, I warn of spoilers have you not followed Warcraft lore recently.

* * *

Rhynia had a natural affinity to the world around her. It was a second nature for her to be able to feel the spirits around her and, soon after she started her training, to be able to hear them aswell. The wind would whisper to her, coming with tidings from far away. The tree spirits would laugh around her when she went to the woods, happy to have a new, young soul with them. And the times she left the shadows of Teldrassil with her shando, the sunlight would caress her skin gently, coaxing her to join the beings of the day.

It was the times like these that made her work hard on learning the druidic arts. Young for a night elf, she had barely reached her third century and had been a pleasant find for her fellow druids. She was a good pupil, most of them thought, if maybe too meak, especially when it came to the druids of the wild.

She didn't have the ferocious quality many shapeshifters had about them. No doubt she'd be able to shapeshift when the time came to learn, but as she was now she couldn't blend her mind to the animal insincts like necessary to be able to bring out all the animal skills.

A few months had passed and the betrayal of Staghelm had been revealed. Malfurion Stormrage was back from the Dream, married to the leader of night elves Tyrande Whisperwind. Tarelya and Rhynia had joined the forces culling the remaining corruption of Teldrassil, Rhynia developing her growing skills with rabid speed. She had learned to gather the life force between her hands in a visible form, an offensive skill the druids referred to as Wrathof Nature. As the orb was pure energy, it could be used as an attacking spell. Tarelya had been pleased when she finally saw the smallest of sparks growing visible during one of Rhynia's countless attempts. She had been alarmed with the speed the young woman had been able to make the sparks grow . Now she seemingly mastered the founding of the spell and was working on her aim. At the speed she was going, she'd soon learn the basics of restoration arts. Tarelya had come to realise her pupil's strengths were within restoration and balance of nature.

Today Rhynia was on a quest to gather moonlilies from around the ponds in Shadowglen. Dirania Silvershine had sent her to collect them while taking care of her friend Iverron. The youngling had been bitten by the poisonous spiders in the northern caves he had been exploring despite all the warnings. Now they were in a hurry to gather antidote ingredients to cure him.

Picking up the last flower she put it in her pouch, stood up and stopped abruptly. The forest spirits were agitated by something. _Death, death, death, destruction, watch out!_ The wind picked up while the tree spirits whispered. Rhynia had never seen them act like this. Whatever it was that was going to happen was going to be -

_"ROAAAAAR!"_

Never had she heard such a loud sound. The sudden chattering of birds and animals around her was lost to the thrumming in her ears. Shaken to the core of her being she started running back to the Oracle Tree when the whole of Teldrassil suddenly shook violently throwing her on the ground. She rolled to her side trying to stand up to no avail. Left to crawling she slowly made her way back through the panicked wildlife.

Looking up she saw numerous stormcrows taking up to the air and going through the thick branches of Teldrassil. The druids were going out to look for the source of distress. It felt like years passed while she crawled towards the Oracle tree. The deers and panther cubs were in a disarray, running all around her while birds were in the air flying back and forth. The spirits were no better, pushing her and telling her to hurry.

She was nearly back when the first druids made it back. They were a fluttering mess of feathers coming back to the ground, barely holding out their wings.

The first druid coming down shifted midair and collapsed to the ground in a pathetic heap. He gasped for breath while trying to explain of what had happened "It's... it was a huge, terrifying dragon, with black peltings around his spine. A tidal wave following, or caused, I don't know... Oh dear Elune, Auberdine! The town was completely destroyed! It was gone in seconds, Elune save us!"

Not many of the druids following him were in any better shape. The priestesses rushed over and tried soothing the distressed druids with their spells and prayers. The few sentinels guarding the place were grouping up, their commander giving brief orders. Group of them run off towards their mounts lounging about, sent to Darnassus Rhynia guessed almost absentmindedly. While Darnassus didn't need a warning - surely they hadn't missed something of this magnitude - they needed to make sure everything was alright in the capital and that orders could be given out. Only a handful of druids seemed capable enough to take flight again. She watched some of them receive blessings from the priestesses before taking off towards the ceiling of branches.

She tried to look for her shando in the mists of the panic and finally spotting her leaning against a rock big enough to support her back. Trying to stay on her feet - the remnants of the tidal wave still rocked the great tree - she made her way to the shando and collapsed on the ground. Tarelya directed her gaze towards her and gave a tired smile.

"Little Rhynia... I'm glad you do not know how to fly yet. That sight... everything gone in seconds... And the dragon, dear Elune, that dragon was terrifying. I could see the fire burning inside him. And the red, burning eyes..."

Rhynia was shaken by the horror displayed in her shando's eyes. She didn't know what to say, instead opting to stay silent and cuddling up next to her. "What's going to happen now?" She whispered quietly. Both of them were silent before Tarelya spoke up.

"Tomorrow you'll start your shapeshift training. Something big is happening, and I'm afraid this might be worse than the war in the Northrend. And unlike last time, this probably won't stay in just one continent. No", she said slowly after a pause, "it's not only your training. We'll have to leave for help of Auberdine. If there are any survivors they're going to need all the help they can get. Not tomorrow, but immediately." She released a shaky breath.

Rhynia nodded her head and after a few moments the two of them stood up. Having a priestess give them her blessing they set off towards their respective quarters to gather items necessary on the road towards Darnassus.

She was nearly back to her quarters when she remembered the flowers still waiting in her waist pouch.


	3. Dolanaar

They had set off within the next hour, packing only the necessities. They'd arrive in Dolanaar early next morning. From there they could get the hippogryphs to fly them to Darnassus, where Rhynia would briefly get to meet her parents. Tarelya had also mentioned getting her a mount, one of the ferocious nightsabers the elven kin was so fond of. Had she been further in her studies, they'd have easily made it shapeshifting, but it'd also leave them exhausted and more vulrnerable. Not to mention the mounts would provide a powerful ally in fights.

The woods were dark as they trecked through Teldrassil's wilderness. Briefly Rhynia wondered how the visitor from the Alliance reacted to the seemingly endless dusk. There were spots where the highest branches let the light through down on the plants in the ground, but those spots were few and hardly made a difference. The night elves preferred the shadows, it was a rest for the eyes from the bright light of the sun.

While it would have been faster to go straight through the forest to get to Dolanaar, it was safer to follow the road. The corruption had been fought against relentlessly but some of it still lingered making the furbolg agressive, not to mention the wild life. Normally the animals kept out of the way of the elves, but getting too far in their territories had them sometimes attack travelers.

During their walk, Tarelya reminded her of the basics of shapeshifting. "Normally, young druids would travel to Moonglade to attenuate with the great animal spirits residing there. However, a few exceptions have been made due to certain circumstances. You'll have to be one of those. It'll be harder for you to reach to the spirits from here, and they cannot aid you as much as they normally would, either."

Rhynia nodded to show her understanding. Her Shando continued: "Your skills lie within the restoration and nature energies, so I wouldn't have wanted to start your shapeshifting training this way. However, it's essential that you'll learn fast. Learning shapeshifting gives you abilities to avoid situations that you couldn't with just energy manipulation. And those abilities will most likely come to save your life more than once during this journey."

And thus continued their way to Dolanaar. Tarelya explained every step of shapeshifting, stopping now and then to ask Rhynia to repeat things as she had understood them. There were a few times she struggled to bring to words what she had heard from her shando, and they went through those points again. By the time they reached the small elven town, Rhynia was sporting a headache from trying to memorize what she felt was weeks' worth of knowledge.

The town was bustling. They heard yelling and saw people leaving the town to follow the road towards Darnassus. The two druids headed to the inn, Tarelya deciding they'd rest for half hour before continuing on.

"It was a huge burning dragon!"

"But Nefarian was killed ages ago!"

"Some say it's his father, the Earth-Warden, Neltharion."

"You mean Deathwing? But he was defeated during War of the Ancients!"

The inn was brimming with people debating the appearance of the mysterious dragon. While arguments mulled around them, Rhynia only wished for a place to sit and have a quick meal. Tarelya led her to an empty corner, telling her to sit while she went to fetch them food and drinks.

Watching around her Rhynia saw a a few humans, two dwarves and even a draenei mingling among the elves. Only few of the elves had the courtesy to talk in common if there was members of other races in their tables. Some of the humans seemed agitated by this, while the dwarves didn't seem to mind.

It took her a moment to realise a group of night elves that even the other elves seemed to avoid. Noting their high quality robes, she kept their gaze on them only to be met with a pair of silver eyes. The female elf that looked at her had a long, beautiful silver hair falling to her back and nearly reaching the back of her knees. Her robe was an elaborate red, and she wore a cape with a red furring on the hems.

"Highborne", she heard Tarelya say as she came back to her. "Arrogant people, those. Not to mention they seem to be magisters." Her shando nearly growled out the word.

Rhynia shifted her eyes towards her shando, before giving the beautiful elf another quick look. She had turned away from them, though, and was discussing something with her companions. "Why are there highborne here?"

Tarelya shook her head. "They come from Eldre'Thalas, now mostly known as Dire Maul. I heard they've pleaded to join the Kaldorei once again."

Rhynia was, just as was any night elf, aware of the acts of highborne. Had they succeeded in bringing the Legion to Azeroth ten thousand years back, there would be nothing left of their world. Still... She looked at the highborne in the inn. The young, silver haired elf seemed to be the same age as her, she noted. "But not all the highborne joined Azhara during the War", she said in a low voice.

Tarelya sighed and noddd. "They didn't. I know that, yet I can't help but blame them..."

They sat in silence for the rest of their break, eating their breakfast - fruits and bread, and plain water. Her shando asked around and they found out that all the hippogryphs had been taken the previous night, people going to the aid of the now sunken town in Darkshore. While waiting for her shando, Rhynia saw a sentinel arriving to the inn, looking around and a moment later heading towards one of the humans. By his attire, she figured he was a mage, though to her he seemed painstakingly young. The sentinel asked him something, and the mage paled and fervently shook his head, saying something. The sentinel furrowed her brows, talking louder now. "With a portal we could get a huge group of people to Darnassus!"

The mage was nearly shaking now, and even from the corner of the room Rhynia could see the sweat forming on the brow of the young mage. Hesitating, she looked towards Tarelya who was ignoring the exchange. The mage was still refusing, she heard, saying he was still a novice, and could barely cast a teleportation spell for himself.

Shifting on her spot she stole a glance towards the highborne. They were watching the scene amusedly and discussed something between each other before the one seemingly the group's leader stood up. "If it's a portal you need, I believe we can be of assistance. After all, the young man here", he gestured towards the reddening human mage, "obviously doesn't have the knowledge - or skill - to open up a portal you're asking for."

A silence descended on the inn, every eye turning to the highborne, and then to the sentinel. She turned to look at the magister who seemed to be enjoying the attention. Looking like she wanted to spit on the highborne she grounded out: "We'll be in your debt if you do. We've received a word that after the destruction of the town, water elementals rose from the sea and are now attacking the survivors and people aiding them alike. We need to send few dozens of sentinels from here as soon as possible."

"Well, that decides it then, I believe", the elder elf laughed and with that, the group of highborne rose up and, dusting themselves off, followed the sentinel outdoors. Rhynia glanced at her shando and asked the question Tarelya so wished she didn't.


End file.
